In July 2013 Chechen Islamist militant leader Doku Umarov urged his followers to prevent the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia – according to a video posted online. Umarov promised to use the “methods allowed us by Allah,” meaning bombs, to prevent the games from being held.

“They (Russia) plan to hold the Olympics on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many dead Muslims – buried on the territory of our land on the Black Sea, and we as mujahideen are obliged not to permit that, using any methods allowed us by the almighty Allah.”